Stay With Me, Lella (Prose Series 54) (Prose Series 54)
Johnny and Carla DiGiacomo are the hub of a big, extended, in many ways, conventional Italian American family. But less than conventional choice made early in their marriage--to take in the orphaned daughter of distant relations will test their notions of love and loyalty, as well as the sexual boundaries within which families exist. Told with earthy humor, Stay With Me, Lella is about the arrangements and rearrangements Italian Americans coped with in the years after World War II, as they began to make their way into the mainstream. Marisa Labozzetta lives with her husband and three children in Northampton, Massachusetts.
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:1550710761
ISBN13:9781550710762
Release Date:May 1999
Publisher:Guernica Editions
Length:168 Pages
Weight:0.45 lbs.
Dimensions:0.6" x 5.0" x 7.9"
Customer Reviews
3 ratings
A novel not just for Italian-Americans
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 25 years ago
This novel will appeal to those of us who love to read about the immigrant experience. Lella is a sympathetic character caught in the "ties that bind" (and that sometimes managed to strangle women of this generation who gave their all to their families). I especially liked how the plot revolved around secrets and the "don't-tell" attitude that often is such a part of Italian-American life.
An engaging read to the very last page.
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 25 years ago
I just finished Lella! It's a wonderful story, engaging to the very last sentence. I loved it! Marisa Labozzetta understands family dynamics so well! All the different generations are given such sympathetic treatments. It's so refreshing to read a book where there are no villains, no angels, just flesh and blood characters. It's especially gratifying to me that they are Italian-Americans, being one myself. So many stereotypes are floating around out there in mainstream fiction and in the movies! Most recently I guess there are some in the latest Spike Lee movie. I'm bracing myself. This is not a highly adorned book. It wastes not a single word. The plot moves swiftly, the characters are confidently drawn with each sure sentence. Males and females both get a fair shake. I'm so glad that this fine short-story-writer has come to this larger canvas so well prepared to do it justice! Brava!
Absolute Emotional Greatness!!!
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 25 years ago
Wow! What a true novel by Marisa Labozzetta. She made this book so real by just making it the way it was. Incredible characters make the novel a short but thirlling change to the usual short story of Marisa.Even mixed into the emotion was some humor which makes it a well rounded book for the New York Times to review. To Marisa: Good job on your extreme accomplishment and we hope for more!!!
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